Govern Our Conditions
by rain-on-my-soul
Summary: Hardly thinking of the future, Kagome never imagined it involved trying to trick the icy Sesshoumaru in an almost wedding ceremony that would've had her sister Kikyo nearly mated to the demon when all the older woman wanted was to be with Inuyasha, halfbrother of said demon. Maybe Sesshoumaru can quell his fury enough to protect what's now his since an evil is coming from the past.
1. Three Things Cannot be Long Hidden

**Govern Our Conditions**

_It is the stars, The stars above us, govern our conditions. -William Shakespeare_

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha or any of its characters.

A/n: Ummm…when did this happen? When did I become fan enough of the Sesshoumaru/Kagome pairing to write a whole fic about it? My true-blue InuYasha fan friends are cringing somewhere. What can I say? This is an addiction that I enjoy way too much to go back now.

* * *

_Chapter 1: Three Things Cannot be Long Hidden_

For the infant Kagome, life was a series of images, sounds, and feelings that were, each day, new puzzles to be sorted out until she started to recognize things. She had started to become familiar with faces, three in particular, when her world faded away to just one image. The white spot against the black was all the babe knew.

Wait, she began to see blue lights, specks dancing around her, and she was a toddler, not an infant. She was falling into the blue and it tugged at her arms, legs, head, stretching her to make her bigger. The white spot with its surrounding black was trying to get inside her.

Kagome sprouted big, blubbering tears because the white spot had black claws that were ripping at the little child that was her inside the young body. She wanted it to stop; the painful sense of it all was too powerful. From the outside, she gave a most agonized scream, but inside, she dug deep within the self within to find a new light. The pink light was softer than anything she had ever felt before. The white spot and encompassing black had not seen the pink light; Kagome pulled on it.

Now the tortured scream came from the black that bled behind the white spot. Young Kagome felt its claws retract as it was pushed from the her inside by the pink light, and out into the blue light with dancing specks. Its scream was drawn out, only to abruptly fade as the white spot against the black vanished.

The pink light hid itself back inside the deepness the little girl had pulled it from.

All around her, blue light died out, taking its tiny orbs with it.

Kagome was left alone in darkness, and she felt so weak. But she could also feel damp earth beneath her small legs. And if she reached out, her touch met cold stone. However, all her senses were beginning to only register one thing: tiredness. She wanted to push herself to look up, regardless of what her body was telling her.

Suddenly, there was softness covering all of her. Was the pink light back? Kagome felt wind instead of light. She opened her eyes against the softness she had instinctively shielded blue eyes from.

Four year old Kagome managed to catch a glimpse of two burning moons encircled by starlight before she let go of everything else.

* * *

Surprisingly enough, for a kitsune, the little boy was being much too loud. Kagome tried not to let it get to her, he was still a kid after all, but their mission required stealth, as defined by quiet. Eavesdropping was not done in noise. Her grumbles of frustration began to add to the kitsune's shuffling sounds.

She decided to risk it, "Shippo, be quiet. Can't you transform into something a little bit less noisy?" The next thought she did not say out loud: _'Though, I thought the fox was one of the stealthiest creatures in existence.'_ "They'll hear us coming," the black-haired girl continued, "if you don't stop fidgeting, and then what's the point?"

"But Kagome," Shippo whisper-whined, "it's his youki. It's so powerful; and I'm scared."

Kagome took pause, stopping her movements, to look back at her young friend. One glance and she decided to make a complete about-face, rotating and sitting down before the boy. He only had to look into her blue eyes for a moment in order to see what he needed to see. Shippo took a running jump into his caring friend's arms.

"I'm sorry, Shippo. You're just a kid and I'm bringing you into all this. We can go back if you like."

Green eyes met blue once again. But the small fox shook his head.

"It's okay, Kagome. I'm not that scared when you're near. Let's keep going, and I'll try to be quieter."

"Oh Shippo," she smiled as she hugged him close. "I don't care what anyone else says, you're braver than you think."

Her smile made him smile. "Let's go, Kagome."

"Right."

Staying perched on her shoulder, Shippo was nearly silent when they started to move again. The young woman crawled quietly through the halls toward her destination. She may have been slower than normal, but she was stealthier for it. Kagome knew she had made progress when they were six and a half feet from the door they were looking for and no one had come looking for them. It was enough to make her let out a sigh of relief.

'_Okay,'_ she thought. _'Almost there.'_ And she looked up. She wanted to take her sigh back now.

Across the hall, about six and a half feet from the other side of the door, was a presence. Actually, there were two presences, just like Kagome and the young demon. It was probably not a good thing.

Still being as quiet as possible, Kagome addressed her counterparts. "Kikyo? Inuyasha? What are you two doing here?" Her nearly identical counterpart was completely silent in response.

But the inu-youkai muttered back, "Keh. Just wondering what my old man is up to. Same as you, I'm guessing."

"So you're spying!"

"So are you!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Even though the back and forth felt heated, the two quarrelers remained embattled in hushed tones. The pairs did get closer and closer to one another. Everything became second to the words exchanged so that none of them really realized that they were right in front of the door now. (Well, Kikyo probably knew exactly where they stood, but was too busy experiencing the verbal spar to put in a thought of her own.)

Shippo let his feelings out though. "Idiot."

BONK! Inuyasha switched to physical expressions at this point.

Kagome got angry and let out a furious, "Shhhh!", which came out much louder than anything anyone had done or said before. Everyone suddenly recognized where exactly they were.

The two males on the other side of the door heard the muffled scrambling as the noisy spies tried to make clean getaways, not realizing that the jig was already up.

The deep chuckle of the silver-haired inu-youkai would have developed a sense of fear and terror in the other male occupant of the room if the other male occupant had not known the inu-youkai as well as the other occupant did. That grumbling laugh was an inspirer of trepidation. But the human male was an old friend, and as such, he did not shiver; he laughed instead.

"Those kids are far too young to be eavesdropping on you or I, Toga-sama. Not with your magnificent power and my keen sense of the mystical and the magical!" exclaimed the old man. "Why, if they were still out there, I'd give them the greatest lecture on the powers of…"

At his companion's impassioned antics, the Lord of the West felt his laughter grow and he began to tune out another long-winded explanation he recognized was in the making. But when he realized the time, he cut off the monologue in order to make an exit.

"Higurashi-san, thank you for meeting with me today. But I must return to my home so that the preparations can begin in earnest. I trust you will complete your duties here in time."

Startled from his reverie, the old man quickly scrambled for a reply. "Of course, milord. I will have Kikyo and Kagome prepared to meet you within the week."

"Good." The great demon stood, as did his old friend, they both gave courteous bows, and the Lord of the West began to leave. "I will see you then. Please, bring your whole family for the ceremony."

"Yes, Toga-sama, I shall." 

It was at dinner that the announcement was made. Inuyasha, surprisingly, had not left with his father, but had stayed for the meal, and was too busy scarfing down bits of fish to realize that the old man had put his own utensils down. Kikyo noticed, however, as did her younger sister Kagome. The two young women stopped eating so that they could search their grandfather's closed eyes. Young Souta, at the end of the table glanced at his two sisters, at his suddenly serious grandfather, and at his quiet and calm mother across from him. He too set his bowl and chopsticks down. Quiet, little Kaede, sitting next to her mom, watched to see what would happen next.

The eldest of the Higurashi's looked up after crossing his arms. All of a sudden, he spoke.

"As you know, our family lands have been under the protection of the Western Lord for centuries. We have maintained a peaceful and lasting relationship with the Great Dog Demon himself for many years as well. It is to your father, Inuyasha, that we owe all of our loyalties. As such, it is now time to honor the bond between the Higurashi's and Toga-sama."

Kikyo, not one for many words, shared a look with her sister. "What's that mean, Gramps?" asked Kagome. Shippo, from atop his human friend's shoulder, was utterly silent.

"It means, Kagome, that you and your sister Kikyo must now cement the ties between our two families that were drawn up at the moment of your births."

"Gramps?" replied a confused Souta.

With the mention of Kikyo's name, even Inuyasha was quickly at full attention for the conversation.

"Is this what you and my old man were talking about today?"

"Ah, Inuyasha, yes. This concerns you as well. You see, in order to express our family's loyalty to yours, it was decided by the Lord of this house that we would give something precious to your family."

"Lord of the House?" Kagome wondered, her confusion only growing with the continuation of this conversation.

"Yes, Kagome." It was her mother who looked into her daughter's blue eyes and answered. "Your father helped decide all of this when you were born. Though it concerns both you and your older sister." The youngest, Kaede gazed up at her mother.

Kikyo finally spoke. "Something precious?" she said.

Appearing quite putout at all the interruptions to his otherwise lengthy speech, the elderly man harrumphed in frustration and tried to bring things back under his control. "As I was saying, in order to prove that we will forever be loyal to the Lord of the West, my late son reached the conclusion that you, Kikyo, and you, Kagome, will be tied to the two sons of Toga-sama. And in return for our signs of loyalty, you two would be offered the eternal protection of the inu-youkai family. You see, it all goes back to the days when…"

All Hell started to break loose; the others rapidly ignored the old man because their anxiety was beginning to pour out. Inuyasha wanted to get loud and vocal, but Kikyo was quelling him with a look for now. Souta was just glancing back and forth between the two black-haired girls and the white-haired demon across from them. It was Kagome that had to try and sort out the suddenly acute confusion.

She almost leapt out of her seat in her haste to break her grandfather's tangent concentration. The kitsune had to clutch tighter to her wavy black hair.

"Tied? What do you mean tied? Are we getting married, Gramps?"

Abruptly realizing he had other things to explain before he could go on, Higurashi-san stopped to gaze into his granddaughter's clear eyes.

"Oh no, my dear girl. It's not marriage that will tie you to the two sons of Toga-sama; it is a less permanent arrangement than that. In a ceremony a week from now, Kikyo will be tied to the eldest son, Sesshoumaru-sama, and you, Kagome, will be tied to Inuyasha as their Fuku Ryoji. This means that you will act as their deputy consuls, offering them guidance and helping their distributions of power until they do find mates of their own."

"So we're just stand-in brides, then?!"

"Yes and no. You have the same sort of powers and responsibilities as their future mates will have, but you are not as bound to them as a mate would be. And who knows, maybe one day you will be mates. In the past, it has happened a few times that the Fuku Ryoji of a demon lord became his or her mate in the end."

The hanyou who had been steadily growling louder and louder at the table burst into a standing position. He looked down at the elderly man with fists clenched in anger. He was not about to let all this happen.

"Bullshit," Inuyasha spit out. "I'm gonna mate with Kikyo and no one else! So I ain't gonna have anyone but her be this Fuku Ryoji of mine, or whatever. And there's no way I'm gonna let that bastard Sesshoumaru anywhere near Kikyo or Kagome!"

"Inuyasha," Kikyo tried to warn.

"There's no way I'm letting my stupid old man get away with this!"

The older Higurashi sister strode over to her friend and took his shoulder in pale hands. She gently pushed to get him back into his seat at the table. Kikyo's calming presence next to him got the hanyou to at least stop yelling.

"Inuyasha, if this is the will of both my father and yours, then we cannot go against it. Doing such would almost be the same as declaring war against Toga-sama. We have to go through with the ceremony."

"But Kikyo…"

"Please, Inuyasha. Everything will be fine. It is not the end for us."

'_But Kikyo…'_ Kagome's thoughts were racing at her elder sister's words. Her sister's voice was saying one thing, but her dull eyes were saying another. _'What if you're wrong? How can you be so calm?'_

Back in her room, the young woman tried to remain relaxed as she prepared for bed. Six days had passed since the earth-shattering meal of the Higurashi home. Inuyasha had returned to his father that night, enraged to the point of almost physically attacking his father, but Kikyo had managed to convince the young demon to promise not to bring up the issue with his father at all. If it were not for her powers of persuasion held over the hanyou, Inuyasha might have been killed long ago. That meant that tomorrow was the ceremony of the Fuku Ryoji. And that meant that tomorrow, Kagome would be bound to act as a temporary "mate" to her best friend, while her sister would become bound to the brother of the man she actually wanted to mate with. It was all too heartbreaking for the middle Higurashi sister.

Kagome let her eyes roam from the mirror she sat in front of to her pillow at the center of the room. A little fox demon was curled up on the pillow; her friend was fast asleep with his face buried in his soft tail. He had been waiting for her to come to bed, but she was just too anxious about the next day's events that she had missed her chance to doze off with him. With a sigh, she went back to brushing her hair in front of the timeworn mirror.

"I can't believe father decided such a monumental thing for us when we were just kids," she whispered to herself. "I mean, I know we have to show respect to Toga-sama's family, but to practically marry us to his sons? Well, I guess none of us ever knew that Kikyo was going to fall in love with Inuyasha."

A few more strokes of the brush and another sigh.

'_I would never let this happen to Shippo,'_ thought Kagome, having glanced back at the kit.

She set down her brush once she was finished, her black hair now shining smoothly in the night.

"I can't believe she'll be stuck to Sesshoumaru. If only she could somehow be tied to Inuyasha instead."

Kagome took one last look at her reflection.

And that is when she finally smiled for the first time in six days.

Then she quickly ran off to Kikyo's room. She did not even bother to knock on her sister's door, but instead, slid it open without haste. She bounced over to the older girl sitting in front of a similar mirror to the one she had in her own room.

"Kagome?" questioned Kikyo, seeing her nearly identical sister's reflection in the mirror. "What are you doing out of your room so late? We should both get some rest before tomorrow."

Ignoring Kikyo's inquiries completely, Kagome smiled into the mirror. "Can you get a note to Inuyasha before the ceremony tomorrow?"

"Yes, but why?"

"I think I have figured out a way to make sure that at least most of us are happy. A way that doesn't mean war."

"Kagome, what on Earth are you talking about?" 

Nearly the entire household of the Western Lord was gathered in the main hall for the ceremony of the Fuku Ryoji. Of course, at the head was the Lord himself, along with his current mate, the human hime, Izayoi, and his first mate, the female inu-youkai, Tsuki. Kneeling in front of them, though one was fidgety and the other completely still, was Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Everyone was absolutely quiet nevertheless.

The doors opened to a new elegant and noble sight.

The human Higurashi clan was dressed in the finest of outfits as they entered the Western Lord's personal domain. The elderly Higurashi, as Lord of the House, was leading two young maidens in pale blue kimonos of the finest silk. Behind them was the Lord's daughter-in-law, leading the two youngest children of the Higurashi family. The two kids, a young boy and an even younger girl were holding up the trailing veils that covered their older sister's pale faces. Everyone soon took their rightful places.

The Higurashi females stood in front of the sons of Toga.

All of those gathered, demons and humans alike, went absolutely still as the Great Dog Demon began the ceremony that would bind the four young people at the center of the room. His words went rapidly and before anyone was really prepared, it was time for the final lines.

"Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha, you must know ask of these females for their consent to this bond. Ask them if they will be accepted to you as your Fuku Ryoji."

Sesshoumaru, as the eldest of the two brothers, looked to the maiden in front of him to ask first. His voice was calm, even, and cold as he spoke. Nothing but his demonic aura glittered in his eyes. "Do you bind yourself to me as a sign of loyalty to which I offer you my everlasting protection? It will forever tie our houses. Do you accept being mine?...Fuku Ryoji."

Inuyasha quickly followed his older brother, repeating the same words to the black-haired girl in front of him.

Both of the two sisters responded at the same time, **"I accept…"**

"…Inuyasha-sama."

"…Sesshoumaru-sama." Kagome looked up for the first time, and her veil fluttered to the floor.

It all happened so fast that neither human nor youkai could react preventively. Sesshoumaru grabbed her by her throat, claws starting to press into delicate flesh.

"Inu…yasha," Kagome choked out.

In a fury, the eldest heir to the Western Lord coldly declared, "I was promised the older female! How dare this human girl attempt to bind herself to this Sesshoumaru instead!"

Blue mortal eyes met his gold immortal ones.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, please," her words were hoarse. "My intent was not to trick you. I only had to keep Kikyo from being bound to you."

With a menacing growl, his claws began to draw blood. "Why?"

Kagome, still trying not to get herself killed, shot a glance at Inuyasha, who had leapt up when his brother attacked his best friend. The hanyou was barely being held back by her older sister. Kikyo's intent was probably to prevent more bloodshed. She had to trust that Kagome knew what she was doing. All the other lords were standing as well. Were they waiting for her death or her answer?

"It is not my secret to tell," she admitted when she once more looked directly into her executioner's eyes.

Finally, someone else was going to attempt to end this chaos without the cost of a human girl's life. This someone knew the only true outcome to all of this. "Sesshoumaru! Enough!" called out Toga to his son. "You must not harm the human female. As the ceremony is complete, you two are now bound. At this point, there is nothing anyone, neither I nor you, can do."

Enraged, but duty-bound to his father, and honorable to a fault to his people's traditions, Sesshoumaru swiftly retracted his claws. The young woman dropped to the ground hard. Sparing none a second glance, the callous demon left.

It could have been atrociously silent had it not been that the lovely female inu-youkai began to laugh.

"Milady?"

Tsuki smiled down at the crumbled Kagome. "Not many can create a fool of my son. I am amused to the point of full-blown laughter. Let her stay; maybe she'll be good for Sesshoumaru."

Slightly perplexed by his former mate's behavior, Toga replied, "She must stay, without royal punishment, but only because the binding prevents her from being outright executed." Such ominous words made the Higurashi girl cringe. "For now, my mate and I will discuss this with the rest of the Higurashi family. Everyone but the three bound must leave this room."

Rather than look any of her family members in the eye, especially her mother, Kagome kept her head down as the entire gathering made regal exits. She could feel eyes on her, but she never looked up. Even when the place went deadly quiet after everyone but two others had gone.

"Kagome!" Kikyo rushed over to her sister, reaching for the wounds on her neck.

"Are you alright?" asked Inuyasha, his white ears pointed back.

Feeling their profound concern for her, she could not help but gaze back at them. "I'm fine," she assured.

"And I've decided that I'll accept any sort of punishment Sesshoumaru feels I need since I'm the one that tricked him. I intentionally created an important tie between us that he wanted nothing to do with. Yet, with this tie, it also means that he can't hurt me too much because I have to work for him.

"But you know what? I hardly care. All that matters is that I prevented him from getting bound to you, Kikyo. The best part about all of this is that you two get to be together."

"Kagome…" said Inuyasha. Kikyo hugged her sister close and Kagome pulled herself tightly to her mirror image.

"Please, let's just deal with all of this mushy stuff later. I have to go find Shippo. I have no idea where they put him once we got here…He's probably really scared…" Silent tears escaped blue eyes as she let go of her older sister and stood up. She tried to carry herself in a dignified fashion walking out of the room. But she left them with one of her patented Kagome Higurashi smiles before she dashed away. "Good Luck!"

"Be careful, Kagome." 

Two and a half weeks. And he had not tried to kill her, only because her status as Fuku Ryoji prevented against such a death. Neither had he tried to physically hurt or torture her, only because this sort of senseless violence was beneath him. But he refused to talk to her, and when he did it was to abuse her title and never use her name. He ignored her mostly. And she would have normally been just fine with that, but she had a job to do, and it was opposite her nature to not at least try with people.

Having been mulling over the last few weeks for the last hour or so, the blue-eyed girl was startled to hear a tap at her door. The gentle sound broke her from her reverie and she wanted to berate herself for jumping at such a small noise.

"Umm,…yes?" she responded.

An even smaller voice came from the other side of the door. "Kagome-sama, Sesshoumaru-sama has requested that you meet him in the visitor's hall right away."

"Requested? Probably more like, 'demanded'."

"Shhh, Shippo," Kagome scolded the young kitsune. "Please don't get us into even more trouble." She turned back to the girl at her door. "Thank you for this message. Please tell Sesshoumaru-sama that I will be right along to meet him."

Probably relieved to have successfully delivered her message, but not excited at the prospect of returning one, the nameless servant girl hurried off to get her duties done so that she could go back to the quieter chores that she felt posed no risk to her life.

"I wonder what Sesshoumaru-sama wants with me?" pondered the Fuku Ryoji.

"I doubt it's anything good," Shippo assumed.

"We don't know that for sure. She said I was to meet him in the visitor's hall, after all."

'_Maybe he's finally going to let me do my job.'_

"You stay here, Shippo. I'll go see what's up."

'_Is he going to finally accept me as his partner?'_

Kagome was not going to waste another minute. She hastily checked in the mirror once to make sure she was presentable; her curled black hair was still neatly pinned. Then she waved goodbye to her little friend so that she could speed through the hallways toward the visitor's hall, where, likely, a less than amused inu-youkai was waiting for her.

When she entered the room with a graceful bow to announce her presence, Sesshoumaru seemingly stared right through her. She recognized that he did that often.

"Ryoji, do not prolong trivialities. Stand at your position and be silent."

'_So that's a "no" on the finally accepting me as a partner thing.'_

She did not run to the spot near his side, but she also did not walk at her normal pace. Best not anger the beast.

Nearly seconds after she had entered the room, a new presence joined the two of them in the room meant for greeting official guests of the Lord of the West. In walked a confident young man with two slightly less confident men trailing behind him; they all wore brown pelts of various sizes and shapes. The blue-eyed woman suddenly stood a little taller.

"Wolf-youkai," exclaimed Kagome in half-hushed tones. So she had already broken one of Sesshoumaru's rules and her recent engagement of the day had just begun.

"Sesshomaru-sama." The black-haired male youkai stiffly nodded as his sign of respect, while his two companions bowed low so that black and blue eyes met wood. "I am Koga, of the Yoro Clan. And according to some sort of rule between our clans, I have to come to you in order to get a little help around here. See, my clan is in the midst of a war between the Bird of Paradise demons, and I hate to say it, but they've almost succeeded in kicking our asses. Now I could try and take them all on myself but, I'd rather not have to lose more of my brothers and sisters to these bastards."

Standing next to the powerful inu-youkai, the human woman was working hard to not show any outward signs of her shock. She could hardly believe such seemingly disrespectful words were coming out of the wolf apparently asking help from someone stronger than himself. But she also recognized that, despite his tone, Koga really was deferring to Sesshoumaru in a deferential way because the wolf-youkai maintained lowered eye-contact and wasted no time will empty flattery, he went right to the point.

However, she was more startled at the word that came out of her lord's mouth.

"No."

Taking a step forward, but inclining her body toward Sesshoumaru, Kagome could not inhibit herself from becoming a physical part of the conversation. "Sesshoumaru-sama, we have to help them! What if more really do die? Can you just live with that?" The demon being questioned was not pleased with the interruption.

"The weak perish. It is life, human." He had actually turned to look at her when he said this.

"I refuse to accept that. I think we should help them."

"This Sesshoumaru will not offer his aid."

"Well then, I'm going. Come on, Koga-san; I think I will fight with you."

So far, even at the mention of his name, the leader of the Yoro Clan could only watch the exchange between demon and human grow in force. The girl had put herself in front of him, facing Sesshoumaru and giving her back to Koga.

"You cannot."

"Well, as I am now your deputy consul, not just some lowly 'consul' as you so often think, I get to have a little say in what you do or do not do. But I have always had control over what I get to do or not do."

"This Sesshoumaru does not need your advice."

Dammit, she would get the last word around here, even if it was just for today. This was her first real chance at being useful; she was not about to let a stubborn dog bar her way.

"Look, Sesshoumaru-sama. My name is Kagome, not 'human' or 'Ryoji', and I am your Fuku Ryoji. That means I am sort of like your mate; I am your partner. You can hate me or not, but do not let your anger get in the way of us doing our jobs. It is the honorable thing to do to help Koga-san and his clan."

His golden eyes refused to blink.

In the stillness, Koga the wolf demon smirked. "I'm going to make Kagome my woman someday."

* * *

A/n: The chapter title comes from the quote: _Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. –Buddha. _Okay, please forgive me if my interchanging of Japanese and English terms irritates you. I had a little trouble at first deciding if I was going to stick to purely English or use just the Japanese terms for certain things. I decided to use both because it sort of lets me use the terms as synonyms for one another. I shall try to be as clear as possible with my writing though. If people get confused, let me know so that I can make the proper corrections. Also, as I am Western, things will seem more Western as far as some actions and dialogue. However, I am researching and learning as I go some not so Western cultural mechanisms. Try not to belittle my naiveté too much. Alright, I'll get back to writing the second chapter. On another note, I will only update this story once a month because it takes so long to write each chapter and because I have other projects going on. This does not mean that I will update at the same time every month though; it could be the last day of the month, or it could be the first. You'll just have to wait and see. (This is probably the longest author's note I will ever write.)

Be seeing you on the other side of the rain,

-ROMS


	2. At Just the Right Moment,

**Govern Our Conditions**

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.

A/n: I probably should have finished this sooner, but I was working on other stuff. Anyway, here is chapter 2 for you all. When you have finished reading it, please let me know of any blazing mistakes that I must edit. I admit that I often stare at a computer screen too much and the plentiful words begin to blur in my vision.

* * *

_Chapter 2: At Just the Right Moment, I Light the Match_

After the visitors hall had calmed down with the departure of the visitors, Kagome figured that her most difficult course of action was to actually convince Sesshoumaru to help the Yoro Clan. However, she was now discovering that her most trying task had already been completed. It had been convincing the leader of the wolf-youkai to leave without making more comments about her being "his woman", or demanding her hand in marriage. She may have thought Sesshoumaru would have protested and exhibited fury; she would not have been shocked if he had even smirked at her plight. But the golden-eyed youkai had revealed nothing. He was not even fazed by what Kagome knew had to have been a form of disrespect coming from Koga. All in all, it left her with strained facial muscles, gritty teeth, and cricks in her neck after getting the other demons to leave.

Right now, the spacious room was quiet and Kagome was turning to plead with the silver-haired formidable presence.

She realized he was getting up to exit.

But they had not even settled anything. It is not like this was a moment for "agree or disagree".

She was prepared to fight him a bit more on this.

"Sesshoumaru-sama, wait!" Okay, there is no way her brain could actually believe she was reaching her hand out to physically grab him as if it was acceptable. So she followed him out the door instead, a few feet behind. Her voice gushed out words that grew softer and softer as they disappeared down the hallway.

Finally, the black-haired girl was back in her own room.

She went over everything again in her head. Everything had first seemed so trying. But in private she had had no issues getting Sesshoumaru to aid the wolves after the pair's verbal argument in public.

He did not exactly agree or relent to her demanding plea. He just sort of became apathetic towards the entire ordeal. This apathy, it actually bothered her more than any of his anger or his hatred had before. These days her world never seemed to cease spinning and the young woman knew soon she would be crying out for it to stop.

Who was getting to whom?

Nevertheless, there was a wait of week in order to get the officials of this sudden expedition sorted formally. During this time, Kagome saw Shippo and some maids. She never got an unexpected, but certainly welcome visit from her sister and/or her best friend. Sesshoumaru never once demanded her presence; apparently he was stubborn enough to do any of the duties she was supposed to be doing, for and without her. And she never had to make an appearance before Lord Toga (Lady Izayoi and Lady Tsuki either) in order to explain her adamantly defiant behavior with respectful fear. It caused her to feel isolated, which caused her to worry, which may have driven her slightly crazy enough to almost wish for a visit from Koga of all things.

Today was the end of that wait. The young Higurashi female had left a slumbering kitsune kit in her bed, donned a comfortable outfit for both traveling and possibly exterminating some youkai, and headed toward the main entrance to meet up with the demons waiting for her. There was a large group at the door when she quietly arrived.

It was not just Sesshoumaru and Koga with his two followers standing there. She spotted her sister, her best friend, her partner's parents, and her partner's father's mate. They all stopped conversing among one another when she appeared. Well, anyone that had been talking stopped.

Kagome bowed at the group (inclining most of her respect to the Western Lord). "Are all of you coming?" the teen asked as she pulled her head up. Kagome heard the former Lady of the West chuckle.

"Kagome-chan," Toga commanded the attention of the gathered with his strong voice, "it has been decided that this will be your first official act as the Fuku Ryoji bound to Sesshoumaru and that it is a task you must complete between just the two of you. Aiding the Yoro Clan in re-claiming their home is a serious diplomatic mission; the success or failure of you two may determine the course of your relationship and whether or not it will be accepted as a powerful and positive thing. No one from the House of the West will help you.

"Do you understand, Kagome-chan?"

Remembering to keep her gaze pointed downward, the girl with the blue eyes replied, "Yes, Toga-sama."

"Do you, Sesshoumaru?"

It was the first words Kagome was going to hear from the scarce inu-youkai in a week.

"Of course, father." Short and direct. Kagome had not missed much.

"Then we will leave you now." The Great Dog Demon suddenly faced the demon leader of the wolf clan. "Koga-san, I hope that, with my son's aid, you will be able to avenge your fallen kin and get your clan's domain back." Then he gently took Izayoi's hand in his to pull away and leave the group. The female with the crescent moon above her eyes confidently followed behind. Before he passed Sesshoumaru, Toga placed a hand upon his son's shoulder. "Your Fuku Ryoji is your responsibility," he reminded. "Remember Kagome-chan, Sesshoumaru." All of this was said low enough that it was as if it might have been for Sesshoumaru's pointed ears only.

The three royals continued on.

But the Western Lord had more to say. He quickly whispered in the startled girl's ear as he walked by. "Impress me, Kagome." She could almost feel his smile in the air, though all she could see was his promptly receding back.

"Keh. The old man thinks he's so smooth. I bet if it were him and my mom,…" After the trio had departed, Inuyasha had jumped into it with his voice.

"You're just jealous, fleabag," cut in Koga. "You'll never be more than half the man the Great Demon Dog is…mutt."

This caused Inuyasha to extended his claws and glare at the wolf-youkai. Then he pounced. The two demons jumped around the foyer, exchanging attacks and curses. The others standing around mostly ignored the fight going on so near.

The young woman with the wavy black hair was drawn to the other woman approaching her. She was carrying something in pale hands. It caught Kagome's attention with a gasp.

"Be careful, Kagome," Kikyo said, handing her sister her bow and her quiver full of arrows. Kagome reverently took them. Even though she was hopeless at it, she could at least use the weapon to better protect herself, and the thought that she had it probably gave Kikyo a sense of security.

"Thank you, Kikyo. I will. And if not, I trust that you and Inuyasha will come to my rescue in the end. Or avenge me, if it comes to that. Please don't let it come to that."

The elder Higurashi girl could sense that her sibling was beginning to fret out her insecurities in her usual way. Kikyo smirked at Kagome.

"Inuyasha would probably have way too much fun with that…" continued Kagome. "And I know now that he'd have no trouble going after Koga-san for it too. He wouldn't go after Sesshoumaru-sama as well, would he?"

"I will take care of Inuyasha. You should leave, Kagome."

"Right..."

The battle grew louder all of a sudden.

"…lower breeds…" huffed the full-blooded inu-youkai.

Snapping their eyes in his direction after his words, the two humans could not decide if they should collect the two men with intent to rip each other's throats out.

Then Koga got in a really good punch that took Inuyasha off-guard and sent him sprawling down the opposite end of the hallway, away from the door.

The black-haired wolf demon landed gracefully next to the blue-eyed girl with a bow gripped tightly in her hands.

"Ha! Take that, dog-breath!" He reveled in his victory for a short while, then turned to the one beside him. "What do you think, Kagome? Your man's pretty strong, isn't he?"

She ignored him in favor of her concern for Inuyasha. But it was Kikyo who ran to him, she noticed. At least someone with a good head on her shoulders was always looking out for Kagome's best friend. The sisters shared a glance and Kagome knew he would be okay.

"Uh, shouldn't we be going, Koga-san? Sesshoumaru-sama?"

The eldest son of the Great Dog Demon, having had more than enough of the creatures that surrounded him, was instantly ready to make his way out of the compound in order to start their journey to the home of the Yoro Clan and the waiting Birds of Paradise. He brushed past everyone in a regal way that made it appear as if he had all the time in the world to ignore anyone but himself and his agendas. Kagome was quick to follow him.

In a state of suspended shock at the hasty brush off, the leader of the wolf-youkai was a little slower to make it out the door.

However, the two lower clan members, Ginta and Hakkaku were still left in the dust.

Coughing, they yelled, "Koga! Wait up!"

* * *

Kagome's heart began to slow down now that she was back on solid ground and the green world was no longer whizzing past her blue eyes. She had at first been in utter disbelief when she realized that Sesshoumaru was going to be carrying her on his back in order to get to the home of the wolves in ample time. If she had walked, her human pace would have cost them a day or two's time. It is not like he offered to carry her, Koga had; the silver-haired male had simply grabbed her, threw her on his back, and started running at top speed. He had not even made sure she was able to clutch to his robes tightly before he had started off. It probably meant that he did not even care if she fell off to her death. It would be one last inconvenience he would have to suffer.

At least she had managed to bottle up her scream before more than a second of it had made it past her lips.

The group was now making their way to a large cave cut in the mountainside. Ginta and Hakkaku, who actually could talk since they were no longer in the oppressive atmosphere of the House of the West and were now on their territory, had explained that it was the den that the clan lived in that they were headed to. They had also been generous in their treatment of the young woman and they now called her their sister since they believed their leader's claim that she was going to be his woman.

All of a sudden, the cave mouth opened before them so that they could see the demons that Sesshoumaru and Kagome had come to help.

"Ginta, Hakkaku, is this really all that's left of your clan?" Kagome's words fell from her lips in a pained whisper.

Hakkaku answered. "Yes, Nee-san."

"But don't worry," Ginta broke into the morose atmosphere, "we still have Koga. And there are other wolf clans that we often get along with. We still have a home, Nee-san."

"Have those demon birds really done all this?" she heartbreakingly wondered, referring to the dwindled numbers of wolf-youkai and wolves.

It was the top of the mountain that contained the nests of the Bird of Paradise demons, including the nest of the leader.

The group, Sesshoumaru in the front, Koga just behind him, Kagome, Ginta, Hakkaku and the rest of the Yoro Clan, gathered upon a large outcropping about a hundred feet from the peak.

Demon birds patrolled the skies.

Koga took a look back at the girl standing sort of behind him. She had her sister's quiver on her back and the bow in her hands.

"I think you should stay with me, Kagome. I'll protect you."

Boy this wolf was forward.

"Actually, Koga-san. I believe I should stay with Sesshoumaru-sama. We are partners after all." The golden-eyed dog demon slit his gaze to her. Yet he made no objections. There was that apathy again. She put it to the back of her mind, to deal with later, and made her way over to him because there were bigger issues to take down. "Sesshoumaru-sama, I'll try my best in this fight. I promise, I will not disappoint you."

"Just don't get in my way," was his only reaction.

Just before the earth started to shake beneath them, Kagome's pulse locked onto a great throbbing about fifty feet up. It was an unfamiliar sensation, but it felt tainted to her. An unbidden thought occurred to the Higurashi girl. Was she actually sensing the youkai of the horrendous bird?

Kagome became afraid that she was about to come into some powerful abilities that were going to make her already troubled life more difficult.

Fifty feet above them, the mountain exploded and the battle began when a hundred of deadly Birds of Paradise descended from the heavens.

"You lot deal with the small fry! I'm going after their leader!" Koga rapidly barked out orders to the wolves and wolf-like men with metal weapons; then he charged up the rock with swift legs.

"Attack!" "Get 'em!" "For our brothers and sisters!" Cries rang out all around the anxious human female.

Amidst the chaos, the inu-youkai was calm and collected. He did not bother to leave the ground, though Kagome suspected he could easily reach the creatures in the air; instead, he used the force of his poisoned claws to strike out and rip his foes to pieces. And because he did not have to maneuver around much to take them out, his presence forced the birds away from the one standing near him.

Kagome could not take her eyes off of Sesshoumaru and the cool fierceness he utilized to kill. The beat of her heart quickened.

But then she involuntary looked to Koga to check his progress with the biggest threat. He was skirting along the side of the mountain, his back to the rocks, and he was bitterly facing off with the Bird of Paradise leader.

The wolf-youkai went in for a punch to the face.

"Argh!" He screamed when razor sharp teeth came down on his arm and threatened to tear the limb off.

"Koga!" Kagome screamed.

Fumbling with frightened fingers, the teary-eyed woman was having difficulties nocking an arrow to her borrowed bow. When she finally got control of the weapon, she pulled the string taught by bringing it all the way back to a spot parallel to her ear. She released it in haste because she wanted to quickly help Koga.

The arrow that flew forward did not have a lot of force behind it so it wobbled in the air and only managed to pathetically tap against one of the giant bird's two blue bodies. It did however cause the brothers with one shared body to growl and release the wolf demon without taking his arm off.

Ginta and Hakkaku ran to their fallen leader.

"Koga!"

"Are you alright?"

He gritted his teeth from his spot on the ground. "Ah, my arm…"

Kagome had no time to properly react to the wolf's fall because now the bird was coming for her.

She took a deep breath in order to control her weapon better this time.

Kagome pulled the string taught, straight, and steady.

Her features framed themselves in determination.

"Hit the mark!"

She let go.

A white blur leaped as soon as her fingers released the string. His speed was matching her arrow instantly. The shaft of it glowed a bright pink, imbued with the sacred energy of her powerful mirror image. And all at once, the murderous beast felt the point of a deadly arrow and the poisonous, sharpened claws in lethal synchrony. That combined force obliterated the leader of the Birds of Paradise.

Sesshoumaru appeared back at Kagome's side without a drop of blood staining his pristine white garments.

The battlefield was littered with corpses, but the demon birds were defeated.

A unanimous cry rang out from the Yoro Clan.

Sesshoumaru took that as his cue to leave.

He spoke to his human companion, but his words were meant for everyone, especially the wolves. "We shall take the biggest carcass as our prize. It will also be a gift from this flea-bitten clan to honor this Sesshoumaru."

"Eww! I am so not, carrying nor going anywhere near such a thing!" Kagome protested, vehemently.

* * *

It turns out, they did not immediately leave the mountain that they had fought to re-claim.

Though Kagome did not want to touch any of the dead birds, she did help Koga and the others collect the bodies of fallen clan members so that they could bury them. It was dirty, disgusting work that pulled at her heartstrings, but it had to be done. They completed it in silence.

Wrapped up in the goings on of the wolf-youkai, the black-haired Higurashi woman had ignored the one she was bonded to. Which was apparently okay with him because he ignored everything around him right back.

She was not going to ignore him now.

After all of the bodies had been buried and Koga had said a few words to the remaining clansmen he had left, the wolf demons had surprised their human guest with another ritual that they wanted to complete in order to honor the dead. In a special cave, at the back of the main cave, fragile paper things were stacked high in a corner. They were lanterns and the clan was going to light them tonight.

Her flame had caught so Kagome gently released her lantern. She watched it climb into the sky for a few brief moments. Then she snatched another from the pile at her feet and headed over to the silent and stoic dog demon nearby but out of the way. She was not going to let him get away without participating in this. It was bigger than their petty fights, their situation. Something like this was bigger than even him and everyone should realize that in their lifetimes.

When the silky young woman got to him, she did not take the chance to utter a word. Rather, Kagome lit the lantern herself, only to gently force it into the lap of her partner.

Sesshoumaru narrowed his gaze at her, her boldness, her closeness. He flicked the paper lantern away from himself.

Still quiet, she watched it float away in a sea of others like it. It caught up to hers and they flew higher and higher until it was revealed that there were at least three dozen more stars in the sky that night.

Kagome started to stare at the blue ring on her right hand. The perfectly smooth stone circle felt abnormally significant on her middle finger.

The girl glanced at the man she was tied to. His eyes were shut. She peered at the crescent above his brow. Its color matched her ring.

* * *

The rainy weather began about a week and a half after Kagome and Sesshoumaru returned to the House of the West, successful in their first mission as inu lord and Fuku Ryoji. Their departure from the wolf clan's mountain had only been dragged out and not abrupt because of Koga's continued pursuance of his "claimed" mate. But he had been forced to drop it when Sesshoumaru had forced the wolf-youkai to submit to the inu-youkai. The last thing Kagome heard as she was whisked away on Sesshoumaru's back once more was Koga yelling that he would one day come and get her to make her his forever. The exhausted female could not be happier to be home, even if it was raining.

Kagome had her room open to the elements anyway. Besides, the slopped roof and slight porch kept the water from getting in to soak her stuff. The young woman perched herself just before the open doors that led outside; she had Shippo by her side.

Movement suddenly caught her eye and she rushed into the rain. The fox kit followed her.

"A cat!" she announced her astonished discovery.

"You think it's a demon?" Shippo asked.

"I think it's a cat."

"I still don't think we should bring it inside."

"But it's pouring. And who cares if those dogs get a little snifflely."

"Kagome…"

But she was not going to be deterred. "Oh come on, Shippo. What's the worst that could happen?" She headed inside with the black and soaking wet bundle cradled in her arms. "You coming, Shippo?" The little kitsune dashed after his friend.

Sesshoumaru was the first to uncover her treachery an hour later.

He entered her room without preamble and stormed over to her side. Suddenly he stopped and sniffed the air around Kagome. His golden gaze zeroed in on her pillow, lying on the bed just behind her. It caused him to bypass her. Then he started down at it.

The inu-youkai did not say anything, but Kagome guessed it was because he was assessing for a potential threat. When the moment dragged on and she could not take the silence anymore, Kagome spoke softly.

"My father died when I was eight, Kaede was barely more than a month old. I don't really remember the man who started this whole mess between us. But I know I loved him, and no matter what you do to me, Sesshoumaru, that won't change." She had no idea what she was saying, or why she was saying it. Maybe she was trying to justify her actions in taking an unwanted creature in. Maybe she was trying to take another step toward getting past her and Sesshoumaru's differences. "I love my family and I will do anything for them. I think, in the right circumstances, I could do a lot for you too." Why would she not just stop talking?

The bushy-tailed kit snored softly next to the completely dry cat she had brought in from the rain. Kagome resisted the urge to stroke both of them, not wanting them to stir. As if sensing her internal dialogue, her dominant companion watched the fox now.

"You are not his mother, just a keeper of strays." Sesshoumaru was not watching her, but his voice was firm.

"I'm his family," replied Kagome. She refused to say another word more.

She never did find out why he had come to her room so suddenly that night, but at least she was keeping the cat.

* * *

Shippo really likes sweets. He was currently devouring some that the two of them had pilfered from the kitchen as he and the girl whose shoulder he rode upon headed toward the voices down the hall. They entered another room and were startled to lay eyes upon an unknown figure at the center. Sesshoumaru was there too.

"I am Thaiscit," said the figure, as they entered.

The inu-youkai narrowed his eyes; Kagome managed to recognize the nonverbal cue.

So he was not expecting this encounter either. Surprise guests struck Kagome as something of an unusual occurrence in the House of the Western Lord. She figured that the royalty here had to make a point of knowing each and every soul that entered such a domain. Her blue eyes wanted to gather more information. Thaiscit had long, black hair that dropped down his back in a low ponytail, and he had pale, golden eyes that faded into the white of his sclera. He turned to appraise her and she noticed that he seemed overly graceful for a man. But it was the energy coming from him that intrigued Kagome. Trying her hardest to sense it like she knew her sister could, what she hesitantly felt was neither human nor youkai, and maybe a little bit like something else. She took the time to wonder if she should she be afraid of it?

"You must be Kagome-san."

He smiled, showing a lot of teeth.

She inclined her head to Sesshoumaru first, but also nodded to his visitor. "Yes. And who are you?"

"My name is Thaiscit," he replied, still smiling. "I was just asking Sesshoumaru-sama if he knew where his father was. I have to talk to Toga-sama about a potential business offer I have for the Lord of the West."

Kagome looked over at Sesshoumaru. He bit out an answer. "Father will meet you in the visitors hall, where he meets all guests for official requests. Have her show you the way." Kagome instantly thought he was referring to her, but then she noticed that he was directing a clawed finger at a servant youkai who had unfortunately just passed the room as Sesshoumaru was speaking. The girl in question bowed to her lord and indicated that the mysterious man follow her.

"Thank you, Sesshoumaru-sama," the black-haired male spoke in respectful tones as he made his exit from the chamber. "Kagome-san, I hope to see the Fuku Ryoji again. I would like to know more about what it is you do here, for Sesshoumaru-sama." With those parting words, he was suddenly gone just as precipitously as he had appeared.

Shippo decided to unexpectedly comment from Kagome's shoulder. "You think he's staying around?"

"You and the kit should keep your gossiping to a limited occurrence. It is an unbecoming habit of someone who I am forced to associate with."

When the lord had turned and was walking away, his striking image gone, the black-haired girl turned to her little orange-haired companion. "Shippo!" She admonished the fox with his tongue stuck out.

* * *

"Kikyo!" The younger sister dashed to her almost-twin's injured side.

It was wounds from the mere swipe of a cat's paw, but still…

"It's nothing, Kagome. I'm fine." One black-haired beauty grumbled to the other fretting black-haired beauty. But Kagome's worries did not let up. "I'm fine!" Kikyo barked out, then gave a weighty shove to her sibling.

Blue eyes stared into cold, brown.

"Fine. We'll leave you alone, then."

Did Kagome imagine it, or did Kikyo flinch at the wavy-haired girl's clipped tone? Well, it obviously appeared that Kikyo was not going to apologize.

"I only wanted to show you the new friend I made, but I can see that it is time for you to be alone." Her older sibling did not argue. "Oh, and to return your bow. It really helped Sesshoumaru-sama and I, thanks." She placed it on the ground without bothering to get closer.

A brown gaze watched the retreating figures of her little sister and the even smaller black cat.

"A cat, in a house of dogs," Kikyo uttered. "Must you always look for trouble, Kagome?"

* * *

A/n: Title for this chapter comes from the quote: "I am building a fire, and everyday I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match."-Mia Hamm. How this came to be finished at the very end of this month, I'll never fully forgive myself for, but hey, it's Halloween. Here's a treat for everyone. And I really like Halloween anyway. So yeah, you can have this on the very last day of October. I hope you like. Please let me know your thoughts, hopes, dreams, nightmares…umm…Happy Halloween?!

Be seeing you on the other side of the rain,

-ROMS


End file.
